Waxing lyrical...

Here is a juicy read on the key differences for publishers of print versus digital publishing. We come at it differently as authors but this is useful information. As I've recently learnt a whole bunch of stuff about e-books with the digital publication of The Half Life of Ryan Davis I nod my head at a lot of this. Knowledge is power. Even if you choose not to go down this route with your own stories it pays to understand all the implications. Jonathan Franzen can wax lyrical about print books all he likes and lament their demise but I think his real fear is not print-versus-digital, but a worry about the ease of digital publishing dumbing down the quality of the stories. Mr Franzen, there is some serious rubbish in print. And whether quality or format is the concern, ultimately it is all (as it has always been) in the hands of the readers. Readers like me. I think reading all books by e-reader would do my head in. But I can't afford to buy everything in print, either financially or physically. I still look for quality in both formats. I've rejected buying a whole bunch of e-books despite their .99c price (even some that were free) if I didn't like the look of the prose. Readers will read what they've always read. They will look for writers they prefer and try and stick with them where possible.I don't think the number of people buying Mr Franzen's books in whatever format will change. And in the end, even if publishers could no longer afford to publish him, there is nothing to stop him self-publishing.

And I have harped on a fair bit about promotion in recent times too : the hairy necessity and the fine line of not enough/too much. Waggle your eyebrows the wrong way and you will be over the line. I like the guiding push-me-pull-you philosophy of Stroppy Author on this topic. Go read it here.

I am still thinking on what competition I am going to run in honour of reaching 500 posts. Feel free to let me know what you would like - old books, new books, the promise of not another 500 posts?